I'm Cute
Sharp screams tore through the air. With her fur bristling, Yumi lunged at me with savage fury. All I could do was raise my two fluffy paws straight up to shield my face.
I had no clue how cat fights actually worked, and facing the relentless barrage of claws right in front of me left me completely at a loss.
If I tried to fight back recklessly, I would only end up scratched to pieces, so curling into a defensive ball was the best option I had.
Fortunately, the fight did not last long.
Yuyeon and I-sol were standing right there. I-sol, quick to grasp the situation, reached out and lifted the fiercely attacking Yumi away.
"Yumi! What's wrong with you!"
"Yaaaang!"
"I-sol, you like that girl, don't you! I'll never forgive her! You smell exactly like that girl!"
Yumi flailed her limbs in the air, wailing, and her hisses translated clearly into words in my ears. She seemed consumed by anxiety and jealousy, terrified that I-sol's affection might be stolen away by me.
Since I could understand every single word Yumi said without missing a beat, I took a steadying breath and began meowing softly back at her.
"Meow."
"I have no interest in I-sol whatsoever."
"Meow?"
"Really?"
I looked Yumi straight in the eye and kept persuading her in earnest. I had no personal feelings toward I-sol at all; everything happening now was simply part of I-sol's professional process.
Above all, I stressed again and again that the only special person to me was Yuyeon, not I-sol.
Only then did the fierce hostility clouding Yumi's eyes slowly melt away. As expected of a real cat with somewhat simple intelligence, sincere persuasion worked far more easily than I had imagined.
"Meow meow!"
"Sorry! I misunderstood!"
Fortunately, Yumi was not a fierce cat brimming with combative instincts to the bone. The moment the misunderstanding cleared, she began grooming the front paw she had clawed earlier, licking it carefully as if apologizing.
Yuyeon and I-sol, who had been watching nervously in case a bloody brawl broke out, finally let out sighs of relief and gazed at our peaceful scene.
"Thank goodness."
"You're telling me. Yumi must have been on edge because she was in a strange place. She's usually such a sweet cat!"
At I-sol's words, Yuyeon nodded.
In truth, Yuyeon already knew that I, Nabi, possessed human intelligence and reason, so she did not seem particularly worried. She only needed to concern herself with Yumi's excited state.
After all, she knew better than anyone that a cat like me, with human-level intelligence, would never start a pointless, dusty fight.
"By the way, shall we talk about the concept for today's shoot?"
"Ah, yes!"
Yuyeon and I-sol soon returned to work mode, putting their heads together with serious expressions as they checked the prepared storyboard and concept notes.
"Meow~"
"Aeong~"
While the humans focused on their work, Yumi and I quickly exchanged glances and became fast friends. In reality, territory disputes between cats were nothing more than battles of pride.
Once one side lowered its pride and submitted first, cats had the remarkable physiology of letting down their guard and becoming close family in an instant.
Most cat territory fights escalated into bloodshed because neither side would yield an inch of pride. That was why, since I was human at heart, I chose to bow my head and lower my tail to Yumi without hesitation.
What harm could yielding a little pride to a mere cat possibly do to my life, after all?
In life, staying round and getting along well was the greatest virtue!
Fortunately, Yumi seemed quite pleased with my submissive attitude. With a very satisfied expression, she began purring and licking my head repeatedly.
Originally, a higher-ranking cat grooming a lower-ranking one was a deep-rooted instinct in the cat world.
Thus, Yumi and I occupied the prime spot at the very top of the cat tower standing tall in one corner of the room, bonding amicably over our cat lives.
"Nabi! I-sol unni is coming again!"
"Eh...!"
At Yuyeon's voice, I let out a deep sigh without realizing it. Here we go again.
I-sol was crossing our doorstep like clocking in, almost once a week.
And one of the reasons had to be me.
In the home of a Hako channel that had barely reached ten thousand subscribers, what reason could a successful creator possibly have for visiting so consistently?
It was not because I-sol was a lesbian harboring feelings for Yuyeon, nor was she emotionally swept up in passionate love. I-sol's sole purpose in wearing out our doorstep was me.
"Meow."
In the end, trudging back into cat form, I prepared my heart for the storm that would soon arrive.
Click!
"Yuyeon!"
"I-sol unni~"
Now the two had naturally become unni and dongsaeng. Continuing to use stiff formal speech when meeting face-to-face once a week would have been far stranger.
And that was only natural in human relationships. Frequent meetings naturally shortened distances and softened terms of address; it was perfectly ordinary.
"Nabi~"
"Meow..."
The moment she stepped inside, I-sol's voice calling for me made me deliberately turn my gaze away and lie flat on the highest platform of the cat tower. A thorough ignoring strategy. But to a human like I-sol, such passive refusal had no effect whatsoever.
"Kyaa! So cute, Nabi!"
Seeing me lying listlessly on the cat tower with an obviously annoyed expression, I-sol let out a kyaa and whipped out her smartphone at lightning speed to start filming. Overwhelmed by the excessive enthusiasm sparkling through the lens, I glared at the camera and growled lowly.
"Meow meow!"
It meant stop filming. But my cat language did not reach I-sol.
"Aren't you too cute, Nabi? I might just kidnap you to our house!"
"Unniii..."
Watching from the side, Yuyeon smiled awkwardly and tried to rein I-sol in. The longing in I-sol's eyes was so genuine that if she let her guard down, she might actually try to abduct me.
Given the one-sided and heavy level of affection being poured on me right now, a kidnapping attempt was a sufficiently realistic scenario.
Of course, nothing that frightening would actually happen. I-sol's house already had the haughty senior cat Yumi enshrined there.
Although the misunderstanding with Yumi had been resolved well, if I were actually adopted into I-sol's house, Yumi would immediately switch stances, raise her fur, and try to chase me out. That was the unavoidable ecological law and instinct of leader cats.
I ended up cradled in I-sol's arms anyway.
"Meow..."
"Hehehehe...!"
To like me this much... Well, I was quite cute and pretty. Honestly, I could even say I was the prettiest and most lovable among cats.
Saying this myself felt a bit narcissistic, but...
Because I had seen so many cats, I could say it with even more certainty. If there had been a cat like me, I might well have become that cat's slave.
"Look how long he is!"
"Aeong..."
I-sol slipped her hand between my front paws and lifted me up. I automatically went limp and stretched out long.
"This mysterious gaze is charming too...!"
She said she really liked my eyes that looked like they had seen the whole world. I could not understand how a cat could possibly have eyes that had seen everything. I was just looking at I-sol normally...
"Unni...!"
Yuyeon also looked at I-sol holding me and smiled awkwardly. However, there was another reason we did not ban I-sol from visiting.
"Yuyeon! Today is...!"
Because we had become regulars appearing frequently on I-sol's channel.
Perhaps because of that, our subscriber count had increased almost three to four times over.
Now the subscriber count was heading toward fifty thousand. The first goal for all new YouTubers. One hundred thousand subscribers were not far off. And upon reaching that number, we could receive the Silver Button!